Jamie Carragher has criticised Nuno Tavares' performance for Arsenal in the Gunners' Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace. The Eagles raced into a first-half 2-0 lead against Mikel Arteta's side thanks to goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew.
Mateta broke the deadlock for Crystal Palace after 16 minutes in the first real chance of the match. Conor Gallagher’s free-kick was headed back across goal by Joachim Andersen and Mateta was on hand to nod in from close range for his sixth goal of the season.
Crystal Palace made it 2-0 eight minutes later with Ayew grabbing only his second goal of the season. Andersen spotted the run of the Ghana international and, after Gabriel Magalhaes was unable to intercept the pass, Ayew controlled and bent around Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner to double the hosts’ lead.
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Arsenal defender Tavares, replacing the injured Kieran Tierney, didn't put in the best performance at Selhurst Park, and was substituted at half-time by Arteta. Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, Carragher said on Tavares: "He is at fault for the second goal, but it is not just this goal, Arsenal have to bring him off and make a change, I will be very surprised if he comes out for the second half.
"You have to admire the goal from a Crystal Palace point of view. It is something you are taught as a young kid, if you are a defender, you have always got to think that the player next to you is a dummy, and a poor player. Tavares stops, and Ayew keeps running because he thinks Gabriel is going to miss it, Tavares thinks he (Gabriel) is going to cut it out, but he doesn’t."
Wilfried Zaha put the game to bed with 16 minutes left when he fired home from the penalty spot to increase Crystal Palace’s lead to 3-0. The Ivory Coast attacker won the ball back on the halfway line, beat Gabriel and dribbled at Ben White before Martin Odegaard clipped his ankle inside the area. Zaha brushed himself down and fired home from 12 yards to grab his 11th goal of the season and confirm the points for the hosts.
